MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Valencia Brown reads her Bible to get hope.
“One of my scriptures is Hebrews, Chapter 13, verse one and two, and it says let brotherly love continue. That scripture there helped me to know about people’s lives and what they’re going through in their lives.” Valencia said.
Valencia’s life has been an emotional roller-coaster, dating back to when she lived in Moorehead, Mississippi.
“I got pregnant at an early age and gave birth right before I turned 18 with my first son and I had my second son before I got married in 1987,” she said.
But she said her husband went from being a good provider to a physical abuser.
“He would get very violent and physical abusive. A lot of times I would be running and waiting to feel a bullet in my back,” she said.
The abuse was so intense she decided she had to pack a suitcase and leave her husband, but she also left without her children.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to take my children with me and I didn’t know where I was going to go, but I couldn’t accept the abuse anymore and having to leave my children behind, I knew that it was going to be very difficult for me and for them,” Valencia said.
Valencia moved from Moorhead to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then to the Gulf Coast, and finally to Memphis as she tried to start a new life for herself. She had to return to Moorhead in January of 2000 for a divorce hearing, but a day before the hearing, her estranged husband suffered a massive heart attack at work and died.
“I still loved him and he was the father of my children, and then it was a relief too because I felt like something would happen to me,” Valencia said.
But life wouldn’t get easier as she tried to reconnect with her children and move to Memphis.
“I was trying to get back with my children and I could feel the rebellion with them and I got sick and threatened with a heart attack,” she said.
Valencia slipped into a state of depression and became homeless.
“For the first time in my life, I had to sleep on abandoned porches and go in a Kroger store and get a Memphis Flyer because that’s all I had to lay on,” she said.
Life on the streets wasn’t easy. Valencia went from shelter to shelter before realizing the place she needed to call was the Salvation Army.
“I was at rock bottom and I was at the point I wanted to give up, but deep down inside, I knew there was hope out there,” she said.
The place where she found hope was the Salvation Army’s Single Women’s Lodge. It’s the only local shelter designated for single women. With 20 beds, women like Valencia can stay here for up to 60 days. It helps them get back on their feet and find permanent housing.
It also gave Valencia loving support and a strict care management structure to reconnect with her children and grandchildren.
“I know it’ll be a slow process for us to come together and I know that I love them and never stopped,” she said.
She’s also hoping to find a permanent job working in a dental laboratory.
“I really enjoy giving people back their smiles. I feel smile is a person’s confidence,” Valencia said.
Now Valencia has new-found confidence, all because of the Salvation Army’s Single Women’s Lodge and her faith in God.
“I am thankful for the Salvation Army. They saved my life, yes they did,” she said.